The Wasteland's Touch
by Godofthunder97
Summary: Kairi knew people viewed her as a damsel in distress. Always the one getting kidnapped, always the one needing someone to save her. She thought training with Yen Sid would help change that but it's not enough for her. But she may be in a little over her head when she steals a gummi ship and crashes on a strange desert world. It'll be up to her and an unlikely companion to survive.


**AN:** Hey everybody I'm trying my hand at writing Kingdom Hearts again except this time I'm doing it a little bit differently. Because for the first time I'm going to write a multi chaptered fic with a female character as the main protagonist. My Avengers stories don't count because they deal with an ensemble cast. Anyway let me know if y'all like it and please be sure to leave a review of you do. And finally much thanks to TerraKH for encouraging me to write for this fandom again.

Enjoy.

* * *

"It's _just that, they really need me. I have to go. I am who I am...because of them."_

 _Her eyes shined as she gave him an understanding smile._

 _"See you soon."_

Kairi sat on the edge of her bed swinging her legs back and forth. She wasn't sure how long she had been staying in the Mysterious Tower. It felt like a couple of weeks but she wasn't sure.

Yen Sid had requested that Riku bring her to the tower in order for her train under him in the art of wielding the keyblade. In order for her to learn how to "protect herself." So she came, and so she trained.

The first few lessons were tough since she had almost zero natural fighting skills. Much to her embarrassment Yen Sid even had to teach her how to properly hold her blade.

She summoned Destiny's Embrace at that moment and took the time to admire it's elegant gold and red design. There was something innately innately familiar about the weapon. In fact it actually made her reminisce about what little she remembered of her early childhood. At the end of it's chain sat a token in the shape of a paopu fruit.

Sora.

She wasn't embarrassed to say that she had been thinking about her friend pretty often since he left on his journey to find _them._ The two of them both knew how they felt about each other, they just haven't got the chance yet to actually say it out loud. But she wasn't worried. He'd find his way back to her eventually. He always did.

Not that she liked always being the one sitting at home waiting for the heroes to return. If she was being completely honest with herself that's the main reason she was so eager to train.

One day she kept telling herself. One day she would be right out there on the front line fighting alongside Sora. And to her, training was the first step in that direction.

One day they wouldn't have to worry about having to save poor helpless Kairi.

Something big was coming, everybody knew it. And it was everybody's responsibility to get stronger, she was no exception.

She dematerialized Destiny's Embrace in a flash of light.

"Hmm."

Only a couple of lessons in and she could already hear Yen Sid's voice in the back of her head every so often. Pace yourself Kairi. You cannot hope to defeat your enemies if you are not first properly rested.

The old wizard could seem sort of cold and gruff on the exterior, but Kairi could already tell that he had a caring heart on the interior. Of course she always did have the gift of being able to see the good in people. It was how she saw Riku when he was Ansem and it was how she found Sora's heartless after he sacrificed himself for her.

She couldn't help but smile as she kept swinging her legs. See. She could be strong when the moment called for it.

But Yen Sid was right. She couldn't do it all at once. The red head swung her legs back onto the bed and let her head softly fall onto the pillow. Resting her hands on top of her chest.

Tomorrow she would train until her hands were numb. But tonight she would rest.

* * *

"The key to mastering keyblade combat is not the amount of physical power you possess, nor is it how cunning you are. The key lies within your ability to flow with your attacks. To know when to strike next and then know what your opponent is about to do."

Kairi listened intently to what Yen Sid was revealing but at the same time she was focused on the tall silver haired teen standing across from her.

Today was the day she was sparring with Riku.

In a way it was the first big test of her training. Most of the tricks and trades Sora knew about sword fighting where things he learned from Riku. He had an advantage over her in almost every aspect.

But she was ready for the challenge.

Riku smirked at her with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Yen Sid stood in the middle of them and slightly off to the side. They were all standing in the grassy area outside the tower.

Yen Sid looked at Riku and then looked at Kairi.

"The keyblade is the most elegant and destructive weapon in the galaxy. It is the power of your heart come to realization. You must always be in control or else you will fall."

Riku flung his wrist out and materialized his keyblade Way to Dawn.

"I won't go easy on you," He called out with a teasing glint in his eyes.

Kairi allowed a small smile to show but her eyes held something to prove. She materialized Destiny's Embrace and leaned back onto her heels in her usual fighting stance.

"I'm ready."

Yen Sid looked at the two one last time before nodding.

"Begin."

In a flash Riku charged at her but she was able to block his strike by bringing up her sword at the last second. The clank caused by the meeting of the metals was shrill and piercing. Kairi quickly pushed his blade away and jumped back a step. Riku did the same but also lazily twirled Way to Dawn with his wrist for effect.

He knew which buttons to push on her.

"You must not assume that every opponent you face will be exactly like the other," Yen Sid's deep voice bellowed. "Changing your own style to match your foe is a vital skill."

Riku's grin was still barely a line across his mouth but the silent mirth in his green eyes were enough to make her forehead throb. This time she took the initiative and charged at Riku bringing Destiny's Embrace down several times like a hammer but he calmly blocked every one of her strikes and then had the nerve to launch himself off the ground and over her. When he landed he swung his blade up in a slicing motion.

She barely had time to react only being able to bring her keyblade up at the last minute. But the force of the blow knocked her off of her feet and into the air. Time slowed down as she hit the grass, Destiny's Embrace dematerializing once it hit the ground.

She lost.

Kairi huffed to herself, her entire mood deflating in an instant. She could hear Riku's shoes crunching through the grass and a moment later she saw a hand in her line of vision. She sighed to herself one more time before she took it and allowed him to help her up. Since her mood was still near the dumps she neglected to look at his face.

"You're getting better."

She knew he was trying to cheer her up but she couldn't help but feel patronized.

"You just gotta slow your movements down. Be more in control."

Kairi finally decided to look at his face. His smile was a little lower than it was before and his eyes that were teasing just a couple seconds ago were now much warmer and even held a little bit of concern.

For his sake she grinned at him and let herself laugh a little.

"I thought you said you weren't going to go easy on me."

Riku guffawed a bit but still held his smirk.

Yen Sid's soft footfalls in the grass caused them both to turn toward the wizard. Since his feet were covered by his robe he almost appeared as if he was gliding. When he reached them Kairi couldn't help letting her head hang in shame as her "master" appraised her.

"I'm sorry Master Yen Sid. I guess I have to train harder." She tried to sound optimistic but instead it came out as crestfallen.

Yen Sid maintained a strong expression as he gazed down upon her but held warmth in his voice.

"Do not falter. It takes not only preparation to conquer the obstacles in your way, but determination as well. Let the fire in your heart give you strength. If you do it will never fail you."

With that Yen Sid gave his young pupil a ghost of a smile and then departed back towards the tower. The two old friends watched the sorcerer leave, standing in silence as he went through the door.

"He's proud of you, you know. It's not easy using a keyblade. Heck me and Sora had to learn on the fly."

Kairi looked up at him with a bemused expression.

Riku was a lot like the older brother who would tease you every chance he got but every once in a while he would say something sweet and understanding. And he would get protective at the strangest of moments.

"Come on let's head in. I'm starving."

She hung back as he began to make his way back to the tower. She brought her hand up to her heart and then stared up at the dark starless sky. Not only preparation but determination.

"Yeah. I'll get stronger."

Kairi continued to gaze at where the stars should have been. This was something that she needed to prove not to everybody else, but for herself.

"Will you hurry up!"

She looked down to see Riku leaning out the door with an exasperated face.

"I'm not going to save you any food if you just keep standing around.

She huffed.

Boys will be boys.

* * *

Sora never did get the chance to tell her the story of his two adventures. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her, some new adventure just seemed to always swoop in and call him away. Kairi knew he really didn't mean to keep leaving, she could see that plainly on his face. It was just an occupational hazard.

And she wouldn't ever dream of asking him not to do what he does, she had an immense amount of pride for the hero he matured into. Especially after how much of a lazy bum he was growing up. But still, her heart yearned to be able to go with him. To be able to play an actual part in the story instead of waiting to be told it after the fact.

It may have sounded big-headed but she wanted to be the hero too, not just the damsel who's always getting kidnapped. One time she asked Riku about what happened since he was working behind the scenes for most of it. His deep green eyes darkened a bit but he did an admirable job of concealing it quickly.

"You should really ask Sora about it. After all my eyes were closed for most of it."

She gave him her best attempt at a tantrum in response but he stood firm. That only ever worked on Sora anyway.

She probably could have asked Yen Sid about it but that just didn't feel right. And when she really thought about it just having a recollection of what happened wouldn't have satisfied her.

It wouldn't have changed anything important.

So she just put her head down and kept training. She still couldn't beat Riku but her instincts were sharpening rapidly. It got to the point where all she was ever doing was train, eat, and sleep day after day. Did the tower even go by days? Maybe it was all just one long night.

Regardless Yen Sid felt it necessary to break the cycle she was perpetuating. He brought Kairi and Riku to the grassy area but told them both outright there would be no training at that time.

"Then why are we out here Master Yen Sid?"

Kairi's blue eyes were vibrating in wonder. Riku leaned back onto the weight of his feet with his arms crossed again. Yen Sid maintained his normal posture, his strong jaw accentuating his stoic demeanor. He was quiet for a space of time as Kairi questioned him with her eyes.

"I saw it fit to show you this," He waved his hand as he stepped to the side. In a puff of purple smoke a gummi ship appeared close to where they were standing.

Kairi had only ever seen one other gummi ship before so she didn't have much to compare it with. But she was nearly breathless when she saw this one.

It was the same size of the Highwind but almost the entire body was a glistening gold color with columns of red spread throughout. At the very tip of the nose sat a splotch of deep turquoise.

It reminded her a little bit of her keyblade.

"It's beautiful," she finally muttered.

A phantom of a slight smile appeared on Yen Sid.

"The Balamb is both fast and steady. And once your training is complete, it will be yours to command."

She found herself inching towards the Balamb, it was as if freedom was calling to her. Yen Sid said it himself, it was hers.

The only thing she could find herself able to say was, "Thank you Master Yen Sid."

He nodded.

"Riku will educate you on how to pilot it. You will be able to personally test your skills in due time." She was so wrapped up in the beauty of the Balamb that she almost didn't hear what Riku said next.

"Want me to give you a moment alone with it?"

She arched her eyebrow at him and put her hand on her hip. "Haha. Come on let's check it out."

* * *

Kairi had been getting more and more restless ever since she saw the Balamb. She still trained as hard as she could and she always did her best to pay attention whenever Yen Sid was explaining something or was teaching her something about the Heartless and the Nobodies.

But she found it harder to respond to Riku's jokes and she found herself often tapping her foot in impatience whenever she was just standing around doing nothing. It was more than just boredom though, there was a part of her that just wasn't with her at the tower.

It was out there cruising through the Cosmos.

She could barely sleep on her bed anymore, after a while she would resign herself to sitting up against the wall with her knees pulled up to her chin like she was now.

Yen Sid had called her to his den earlier, it felt like half an hour ago but she still had no sense of how time moved in this realm. When she got up to his floor she found the door was cracked slightly. The first thing she heard was Riku's voice.

"So the King will be stopping by here soon?"

Yen Sid's voice came next after an amount of time that led Kairi to believe he was nodding.

"He gad received some...interesting news."

She moved herself flat against the wall so they wouldn't see her.

"About what?"

Two beats of silence.

"Sora."

Her irises nearly exploded.

About Sora? Did something happen to him? Is he...

"Is he alright?" Riku read her mind. His voice filled with the concern that she was feeling on the inside.

"All will be revealed when the king arrives." She didn't hear what Riku had to say next. Her body didn't want her to be there any longer so her feet carried her all the way back to her room.

She figured it was only a matter of time before Yen Sid sent Riku to go fetch her. Thankfully the tower was huge enough so she had enough time before he would find her. Though she was sure her room would be the first place he would check.

But she didn't want to talk. Not to Yen Sid, not to Riku. Not even to the King. She wanted to be out there, she needed to see with her own two eyes whether or not Sora was okay. Her training had giving her strength to stand on, the Balamb gave her a way to venture out there, and now Sora's potential well being gave her the motivation she didn't know she was waiting for.

This whole thing started with three friends wishing to sail out into the unknown and see what was waiting for them. Two of them got that adventure while the other had it stolen from her.

Not this time.

* * *

Kairi softly sprinted over to the area where the Balamb was parked, looking behind her every so often to see if Riku had found her yet. When she reached it she ran her hand over the gold plating and took what would for now be her last look at the Mysterious Tower's dark purple sky.

A short wave of anxiety did manage to creep it's way into her stomach. She was aware that she was acting rather rash, but there was something in her heart that was telling her that she needed to go through with this.

That something may have had tall spiky brown hair and the most endearingly goofy smile ever.

"Kairi!"

She looked back over he shoulder to see Riku emerging from the Tower.

Time to go.

The auburn haired princess of heart leaped onto the nose of the ship and climbed up and into the cockpit.

"Kairi!"

Once inside she settled herself into the pilot's seat and focused on the control panel in front of her. Riku was thankfully very thorough with the crash course lesson he gave her in piloting. She knew everything she had to do she just had to well, do it. She pressed all the buttons she needed to press and pulled all the levers she needed to pull and then the entire ship began to vibrate as it began to slowly lift off the ground.

She turned her head to the side and saw through the glass Riku running towards the ship. She waved at him as she grinned a big grin. The Balamb finally zoomed up and way into space.

Everything was so beautiful.

Her eyes danced as she watched all the various specs of light race past her. It wasn't like any of the stories she would hear when she was younger.

It was much better.

But then as fast it started, it ended. The streams of gold, blue and white froze and turned to purple as the Balamb slowed down to a halt.

She really was in space.

And she had no idea where she was going.

Kairi let out a noise of frustration as she fell back against her chair. Things had went from rash to short sighted pretty quick and it annoyed her to the point of mental exhaustion. She had her freedom yes, but she also had no semblance of an idea what to do next.

She wanted to find Sora she knew that much. That just left the question of where he was. Maybe she should have waited for the King to show up. She shook her head. She was out here now, there wasn't any point in turning back.

 _Alright Kairi? What do you got?_

She thought about the parts of Sora's adventures that she was present to witness (well the parts she was actually in her own body for).

Twilight Town, which she just left. And Traverse Town. Wait there was one more.

Hollow Bastion.

Her homeworld.

It was as good of a place to start as any. At the very least she could possibly hear about Sora from the friends she knew he had there.

Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, Merlin. All names she had forgotten not too long ago. Sora was like a younger brother to them. They would definitely know _something_ about where he was.

It was decided. She would go to Hollow Bastion. The only thing was, she found herself frowning whenever she said that name. Like it wasn't the name she remembered it being. She shook her near crimson locks. Now wasn't the time for that. She had to get going to Hollow Bastion.

Where was that again?

* * *

It took her a bit but she eventually discovered that one of the screens on her control panel was a World Map. She was further embarrassed with herself when it turned out that Ra...Hollow Bastion was literally straight away from where Twilight Town was. Once she was finished mentally berating herself she let the autopilot follow the charted course and sat back in her chair.

Although the adrenaline of the initial act allowed her to ignore the feelings when they first popped up she was now starting to feel the guilt and the anxiety. She wondered if Riku and Yen Sid would be angry or worse yet disappointed with her, would they understand what her heart desired or would they see her as nothing more then a pouty teen needing to rebel.

The fact that this also was really not a good time to pull something like this was far from lost on her. After all there was a reason Yen Sid needed to train her in the first place. She didn't have the warrior's instinct that Sora and Riku had developed. She could hold her own because of her lessons but she hadn't had the amount of time they both had to learn from trials of fire.

That was why she had to do this. Because when the time came for everybody to fight in this war she would be a participant, not a back-up plan. A comrade, not another thing for Sora to worry about.

She would...

A loud cracking noise infiltrated her head before the Balamb lurched forward with a seismic force that shot into her back. The dizziness caused her vision to blur but she could almost swear she saw a large grey ship in her peripherals.

But then almost immediately smoke began to pour into her field of sight and her stomach dropped as the entire ship began to spiral out of control.

Before she closed her eyes all she saw was that the ship was heading down.

* * *

Why was everything so hot? The air that was hitting her face felt as if all the moisture in it had withered away and all that was left was dryness. But all she saw was darkness and she didn't know why.

Oh yeah her eyes were closed.

Kairi slowly willed her lids open but quickly shut them once a searing white light overloaded her senses.

 _Ok take it slow Kairi._

She did, and the burning white turned out to just be the sun frowning down upon her. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and came to the realization that she was lying on something soft and grainy. She brought her hand up to her face and saw that the appendage had specs of sand falling off of it. Her entire upper body shot up into a sitting position and her head surveyed about her surroundings.

Sand. Nothing but sand.

How did she get here? All she remembered was the Balamb plunging into black. The Balamb! Where was her ship!?

Kairi pushed her hands into the sand to try to lift herself off the ground. Once she was standing on two feet again she put a hand above her forehead to shade her eyes. One turn to the side revealed the Balambs's smoking form only a few feet away from her.

She put one foot in front of the other to try to walk over to the vehicle but her leg buckled under her own weight. Luckily she was able to catch herself before she fell back down. After a taking a deep breath she walked (slowly) to the ship and softly put a hand on it's side.

Smoke was coming out of the back and the glass covering the cockpit was shattered. It wasn't going to fly her anywhere anytime soon.

How was she going to find Sora now? Scratch that. How was she going to survive this?

A sloppy low growl made the tips of her eyes perk up and it shook her to her core. She cautiously summoned Destiny's Embrace but her body wouldn't let her turn around.

Stay calm. Stay _calm._

Kairi swiftly twisted around and dropped into a fighting stance,

There were six...beasts baring razor sharp teeth at her. They were all a dark maroon color with a feral dog-like quality about them. She took a step back but froze when her back hit the Balamb. She was cornered.

She slowly raised her blade as the monsters glared at her with beady yellow eyes. Her heart raced and her keyblade almost slipped out of her hand because her palms were so sweaty. But she could still hear Yen Sid's voice in the back of her head.

 _Always be in control._

She nodded to herself.

"Ok."

The beast in front roared a shrill sound as it lunged towards her. She ducked under it causing it to smack into the side of the Balamb. Seeing her opportunity she gingerly charged at the rest of the pack, knocking one out of the air with Destiny's Embrace as it jumped at her and then rolled under another when it did the same.

She lashed out a yell as she brought her blade down to the beast closest to her, slashing it's face causing it to disengrate in a puff of smoke. She took too much time doing this however as another beast was able to lunge at her and lock onto her blade with it's teeth.

This provided the last beast the chance to charge into her left ankle, knocking her off of her feet. Once her back hit the sandy ground the two creatures covered her wrists with their claws while two more came and did the same to her ankles.

She whimpered lightly as she struggled to try to get her limbs free but to no avail. The final two monsters crawled over to her face and snarled at her, drool nearly dripping through their teeth.

She wanted to scream but she knew it wouldn't be any use.

When she was just about to close her eyes she heard a rumbling sound unlike the growls of the creatures. It was lower, more machine like.

Almost like a motorcycle.

The sound got closer and closer until it was nearly deafening. And then as quick as she discovered the noise a flash of yellow and black zoomed by them slashing covering her wrists. The beasts didn't even had time to howl in pain as they disengrated. The flash turned around on a dime and then drove back slashing the beasts containing her wrists. Now free Kairi rolled over to her keyblade and jumped up into a defensive stance.

The flash turned out to be a man with golden spiky hair perched on top of a black motorcycle.

The man grasped a slim sliver sword in his hand and there was also an even bigger blade covered in a gauze like wrap strapped to his back.

But the most striking things about him by far were his eyes that were almost too blue and the almost uninterested scowl adorning the bottom corner of his face.

The Samaritan nonchalantly stepped off his bike and eyed the last two creatures without a hint of emotion showing. He took his word and divided it into two smaller blades, twirling them lightly with his wrists creating a light swooping sound.

The beasts frantically charged at him but the man stood still until the exact moment his prey launched into the air. He jumped into air and spun his blades around slashing one in the face and the other through it's shoulder causing them to disengrated before the man touched the ground.

Kairi watched his back as he put his two blades back together into one. Even though he saved her she kept her keyblade at her side, she wasn't going to take anymore chances.

The stranger turned towards her with his sword relaxing against his leg. His face was still rather blank but his eyes held a certain calmness to them.

"You alright?"

His voice had a hollowness to it, almost like he didn't use it that often but it also held a certain twain that offered the smallest of glimpses to his personality.

She let out a sign she didn't know she was holding in and phased Destiny's Embrace away.

"Yeah...I'm fine. Thank you by the way. I'm Kairi."

Her savior moved his head forward in the slightest of movements in what was apparently a nod.

"Name's Cloud."

She gaved him the friendliest smile she could muster at that moment.

"Nice to meet you Cloud."

Cloud did his almost nod again and walked past her over to the Balamb.

"I saw your ship crash."

Apparently he was answering the question she hadn't gotten the chance to ask of, "How did you find me?"

"Yeah," She said scratching the back of her neck somewhat embarrassed. "I think I was attacked by some grey ship."

"Hmm." Cloud looked over his shoulder at Kairi only to turn his attention back to the Gummi.

She noticed pretty quickly that he didn't seem to be of the talkative sort. Or maybe she was just boring him.

"I'll take you into town. See if anybody can fix this."

Relief flushed the pit of her stomach. So there was civilization nearby. Maybe somebody there would no about Sora.

Of course she should probably focus I getting off wherever this was in one piece.

Maybe after some rest first. Yeah that sounded nice.

"Kairi?"

Yeah all she needed was some rest. Right after the room stopped spinning.

She thought she saw Cloud running towards her but she couldn't tell for sure.

Everything was too black to see.


End file.
